


in these shadows I fall

by Take_Me_To_My_Fragile_Dreams



Series: kintsugi [5]
Category: Shall We Date?: Obey Me!
Genre: Hurt/Comfort, Multi, soft lucifer, spoilers for chapter 15-16
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-02
Updated: 2020-04-02
Packaged: 2021-02-28 19:27:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,998
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23452435
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Take_Me_To_My_Fragile_Dreams/pseuds/Take_Me_To_My_Fragile_Dreams
Summary: “Lucifer?” He managed to choke out. “What—”“Hush.” Lucifer’s fingers lifted to run through his hair, devoid of gloves. The touch was so painfully gentle it made Mammon’s heart seize. When was the last time Lucifer had been gentle with him—when anyone other than Briar had been gentle with him? The answer hurt too much to dwell on.
Relationships: Lucifer & Mammon (Shall We Date?: Obey Me!), Lucifer/Mammon (Shall We Date?: Obey Me!), Mammon (Shall We Date?: Obey Me!)/Original Character(s)
Series: kintsugi [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1669783
Comments: 15
Kudos: 359





	in these shadows I fall

**Author's Note:**

> Guess who got to chapter 16
> 
> ambiguous-seal requested 17. “You make me proud, you know that right?”
> 
> It isn't exactly what you described but I hope you like it nonetheless!

Humans were fragile, fleeting creatures. Gone between one moment and the next; a star tearing through the sky only to burn out into darkness.

A human lifespan was impossibly short compared to a demon’s; Mammon had always known that. He’d known it long before he’d ever fallen, back when he and all his brothers were still holy. He’d never met one face to face as an angel; as Lucifer’s second he’d had far too much to do to even _entertain_ exploring the human world. Lilith and Belphegor’s stories were more than enough to satiate his curiosity at the time.

Then came the fall.

The war.

Lilith’s death.

Their descent into true demonhood. 

The first time Mammon had ventured out into the human world as a demon he’d been shaken to discover just how _easy_ it was to corrupt their souls. Humanity, he came to find out, was painfully greedy. It took and took with such little regard for individual lives.

There were a lot of different types of greed. Greed for power, attention, riches. Dark creeping desires that came out at night to choke the weak into submission. Mammon had been so stricken by the darkness in the very beings his own sister had fallen for— _died for_ —that he’d grabbed on to the first sin that had seemed even remotely safe.

Casinos full of drunken and excited fools were usually free of the dark thoughts on the street. There was too much hype to catch wind of the rage and need to hurt that lingered outside.

(Mammon never told Lucifer about the darkness he’d seen. He stood and took Lucifer’s anger and punishments once he was pulled back to the Devildom—and if a part of him was relieved at being taken away, only he was privy to it.

Lucifer didn’t understand the urges that threatened to put a collar around Mammon’s throat. He didn’t know about the whispers of deadly intent; didn’t know how easy it was to _take anything and everything, no matter the cost, minemine **MINE** —_

No one did.

Beelzebub came the closest to understanding, though Mammon never said a word to him either. How could he when Beel’s hunger was so innocent?)

Humans were dangerous sources of temptation and greed, but they were short lived. Even the vilest of them all was gone within a hundred years or so.

That didn’t seem to matter to Lucifer when he was assigned an exchange student.

A year was nothing—and yet, it was everything. No matter how hard Mammon tried he couldn’t stay away from Briar. If it wasn’t his own nature drawing him in to their humanity, it was Lucifer breathing down his throat, demanding he take care of them.

It wasn’t as scary being around Briar as it was being around other humans. They weren’t malicious; they didn’t crave the power to stomp out anything and everything in their way. They were kind and soft. The only real greed they had was for love, and for those they loved to be happy—if that could even be called greed.

It had to be some great cosmic joke, putting _Mammon_ of all people in charge of Briar’s safety. Still, he embraced it as best he could.

He comforted them through their initial panic over their new life. He made sure they were fed and escorted to and from school. He made sure they smiled, that no one bullied them—not even Lucifer. He held them when they needed it; practically moved into their room when he noticed they slept easier with someone else around.

He—cared.

Loved, even.

He wasn’t entirely sure why he was so surprised when it all fell apart. Perhaps it was the greed in him, too stubborn to face the reality of Briar’s fragile existence.

Perhaps it was that it happened in the House of Lamentation, a place that was meant to be safe.

Or perhaps it was the simple fact that Mammon would never be prepared to say goodbye to his human, let alone have them bleed out in his arms.

Human blood was always mouthwatering to a demon, but nothing had made him feel more nauseas than finding Briar at the end of the sweet trail. Heart break and betrayal had fought against one another at the sight of Belphegor standing over their body with a smug smirk.

Mammon still wasn’t entirely sure what he’d done. One moment he’d been staring at them both with wide eyes; the next, he had had Briar in his arms while Belphie groaned from where he’d been thrown down the hall.

Their blood had stained his hands, his clothes. The scent had been everywhere, suffocating him from the inside out as he’d begged Lucifer to help, to do something, anything, just don’t let them _die_ —

Mammon closed his eyes and let out a slow breath. He could still feel the weight of them in his arms, there one moment and gone the next, a carbon copy of Briar standing by the stairs devoid of injury.

Diavolo’s grand explanation; the reveal of Briar’s heritage—it had all barely processed over the roar in his ears.

He’d made it through the day on sheer adrenaline alone and now here he was, alone in the library with only the shadows for company, just barely managing not to fall apart.

_“A human can’t sustain these kinds of injuries,” Lucifer said._

_“That look,” Belphegor laughed. “That was exactly what I was hoping for!”_

Mammon shivered and wrapped his wings tighter around himself. He was aware, in some distant part of his mind, that he was going into shock, but it didn’t quite register just then.

All he could see was Briar dying. All he could smell was their blood.

A wild whimper tore itself free from his chest, the undertone of a distressed screech making his throat ache. He wasn’t aware of the figure that approached, or the way the couch dipped with an added weight. He barely even felt an arm wrap around his shoulders.

His wings were forced back as he was pressed up against a smooth chest. It vibrated under his cheek and it took Mammon quite a while for the cause to register over the white noise in his ears. Someone was trying to calm him like a fledgling. Soft croons and rumbling purrs mixed in with the occasional trill, all melting into one another to help calm his anxiety.

There was satin under his nose, the smell of leather and smoke expanding into his lungs. Something soft was wrapped around him and when Mammon opened an eye, he was started to realize that they were feathered wings, as black as ink.

“Lucifer?” He managed to choke out. “What—”

“Hush.” Lucifer’s fingers lifted to run through his hair, devoid of gloves. The touch was so painfully gentle it made Mammon’s heart seize. When was the last time Lucifer had been gentle with him—when anyone other than Briar had been gentle with him? The answer hurt too much to dwell on.

Now that Mammon knew what to look for, he recognized the low rumbling base of Lucifer’s purrs; the scratchy croak that underlined all of his trills. It’d been a long time since Lucifer had comforted anyone this way—at least when Mammon was in hearing range, anyways.

“Why?” Mammon whispered, still not brave enough to look up. “Shouldn’t you be yellin’ at me?”

“For what?”

He scoffed. “Briar _died_ and I let it happen. I was expectin’ you of all people to want ‘t feed me to Cerberus.”

There was a frown in Lucifer’s voice now. That was more familiar. “You didn’t let anything happen. We were all at fault for what happened, especially considering the circumstances. We had no way of knowing Diavolo had sent Briar back in time.”

Mammon choked out a bitter laugh. “Diavolo,” he said in a way he would never normally dare, especially around Lucifer. “did he even care that they died? What if they hadn’t come back?”

“Diavolo has his plans. He would not have risked Briar’s life unnecessarily.”

His lip curled but Mammon was far too exhausted to fight. He could still feel death hanging around him; still hear Briar’s last breath rattle in their chest. “You goin’ to assign someone else to them?”

“No. You’re their guardian, I couldn’t change that even if I wanted to.”

“You don’t want to?” He asked dubiously.

“Mammon.” Lucifer’s wings shifted around him, though they didn’t draw back. “Look at me.”

“Don’t wanna.”

**“Mammon.”**

Ah, there it was.

He lifted red rimmed eyes up to meet that familiar crimson stare. There was no rage to be seen for once, only a soft concern that Mammon so rarely saw directed at him. As unprepared as he was for that look, he was just as equally unprepared for the words that followed.

“You know I’m proud of you, right?”

Mammon let out an ungraceful squawk. _“What?!”_

Lucifer’s lips pressed together into a thin line. “In between your idiotic schemes and your insistence on trying my patience, you’re still my second. Briar has—well, made it clear that I haven’t been doing a very good job with being there for all of you.”

The words came out slow and like they hurt. For Lucifer, they probably did.

“Lucifer,” Mammon chuckled awkwardly, voice far too high pitched to be normal. He wasn’t equipped for this—probably wouldn’t ever be, really. “You don’t gotta coddle me, I get it alright? I’ll quit bein’ a baby—”

A slow irritated exhale interrupted his words. It was enough to silence Mammon out of pure ingrained instinct alone.

“Briar is family now,” he said simply, in that way of his that said there would be hell to pay if anyone argued. “their safety is all of our responsibility and I’m proud of you for the job you’ve done in making sure their stay is a safe and happy one.”

A strained chirp escaped Mammon’s throat before he could help it. He flushed and ducked his head to hide in the fur of his brother’s coat. “…thanks.”

A pleased sound worked its way up from Lucifer’s chest. It was not unlike one of Cerberus’ nightmare growls—though it was only mildly less terrifying.

“Good.” His wings tightened briefly around Mammon before they began to release. He froze when a whimper met the action.

“ _Fuck_ , ignore that, I didn’t mean—”

Lucifer detached himself from Mammon without a sound, leaving his brother curled into himself in humiliation. Mammon only had a few seconds to wonder if he was about to be hit when he was scooped up into a pair of familiar arms.

He yelped when the couch disappeared out from underneath him, wings flapping wildly. Lucifer grunted when one of them smacked against his cheek. Mammon immediately stilled at the sound, eyes wide and fearful when he looked up.

Lucifer’s normally immaculate hair was out of place, strands of midnight falling over his forehead and into his eyes. He looked more amused than annoyed, which was a blessing in itself.

“What’re you doing?!”

“You need a bath,” Lucifer said calmly. “and some rest. You’re going to get both.”

“I can walk, you know!”

One of his eyebrows quirked. “I know.”

Mammon threw his hands up and accepted the fact that his face was going to be crimson for the rest of the night.

* * *

(Later, when he was in fresh clothes and devoid of any human blood, Mammon would curl into Lucifer’s chest and cry where no one could see. Lucifer would accept the contact without a word and wrap his wings around them both, preventing even the shadows from catching sight of his brother’s grief.

In the morning neither would mention what transpired, but Mammon would remember the safety of his brother’s embrace on the nights Briar’s death haunted him, and Lucifer would remember not to be quite so harsh when it came to matters pertaining to their human.)

**Author's Note:**

> Let These Boys Be Soft Together !!
> 
> Prompts are still open! You can find the list @ my101fragiledreams on tumblr or drop one here


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